A “network resource” refers generally to a computing resource that is accessible via a network connection. An example type of network resource is a mail server accessible using a protocol such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (“SMTP”) or the Internet Message Access Protocol (“IMAP”). A “network resource attack” refers generally to any malicious attempt to compromise security or operation of a network resource. Example types of network resource attacks are “dictionary” and “brute force” attacks, each of which attempts to determine the authentication credentials of a network resource by repeatedly trying to access that resource using different guesses of those credentials.
Regardless of the particular type of network resource or network resource attack, problems related to facilitating network security remain important, and are arguably increasing in importance, in an increasingly network connected world.